How to install offline Maps on your BlackBerry using TrekBuddy 0.973

BlackBerry smartphones are handy for GPS navigation helped by the excellent BlackBerry and Google Maps applications. When you are out of range of a data signal both these applications are unable to continue to provide a map. With TrekBuddy you can use offline maps, from Google and elsewhere, record route speed and waypoints, or use your phone as a direction finder. TrekBuddy is a great, freeware application developed by Kruch a Czech developer and is suitable for J2ME devices including a BlackBerry with OS 4.1 or greater.

Using offline maps with TrekBuddy enables you to download maps at detail levels that suit you, that load quickly as they are stored on the SD Card, and of course do not incur any data download costs, this is especially useful when you are roaming overseas. The map on the right is a screen shot from a Curve 8310, using a map created with the excellent gm2tb- GoogleMaps to TrekBuddy site.

How To

1. Download TrekBuddy: The ALX and COD files can be found via this link.

2. Install TrekBuddy: Use the BlackBerry Application Loader to install the application. Instructions on how to use application loader can be found here.

3. Set up the Folder System: Using Mass-Storage mode navigate to your SD Card using Windows Explorer, you need to create a folder called “data dir” with subdirectories called maps, resources, sounds, tracks-gpx, tracks-nmea, ui-profiles, wpts as shown on the diagram on the right.

Disconnect your BlackBerry from your PC and load the TrekBuddy application. Press the BlackBerry key to bring up the menu.
Go to Menu->Basic->Data Dir

This needs to be set to the location of the data directory you created, mine is
file:///SDCard/blackberry/data dir/

ensuring the slashes and capitalisation are correct. Next go to
Menu->Location-> GPS provider

for a BlackBerry such as the 8310 you should set it to internal GPS. If you have an external GPS puck it can be set up here.

5. Test GPS Connection: To test the GPS connection on menu, go to Start to enable GPS and then press the # key to bring up compass mode. Once you have a signal you should have a compass display with your current location like this. The green dot shows that you have a GPS signal.

6. Download a Map:As standard no maps are supplied with TrekBuddy. The easiest way to download a map quickly is using the Google Maps to TrekBuddy website by AwokenMind. To use this website use Google Maps to find the area you want to create a map for, give it a name then click download. The tar file that you create should be placed in the maps directory of your BlackBerry.

6. Use your map!: Disconnect the USB cable, load TrekBuddy, Start the GPS, and select the map you have just added.

Potential Problems

Setting Application Permissions:I didn’t need to do this, but you may need to give TrekBuddy access to your SD card and access to your internal GPS Device. This is done on the BlackBerry by navigating toOptions->Security Options->Application Permissions->TrekBuddy->Edit Permissions->Set all to'Allow'

Setting the Path to Media Card: If your path is not correct you will get the following error:Failed to start tracklog: file://wrong-path/ net.rim.device.api.io.file.FileIOException: File system errorThis means you should carefully check your path to the SD Card

Connecting with USB: Always exit TrekBuddy before connecting the USB cable and entering Mass Storage Mode, otherwise TrekBuddy can crash and may require a battery pull.

Further Information

TrekBuddy is not a route-planning application for calculating a route formÂ A to B. There are better applications around if you wish to achieve this, for an application which has can continue to function in voice mode despite data connection loss try AmAze.

To create large atlas files I recommend the excellent GoogLeak application which can be found here. This enables you to download Terrain, Hybrid and Street Map style Google Maps, and store them at various resolutions in the atlas format.

Open Source Street Maps are available, such as OpenStreetMap, a utility to create TrekBuddy maps using this database can be found here.

hey james, i tried installing the trekbuddy .alx application (OS 4.2) (which i downloaded by right-clicking and selecting save link as) via using the BB desktop manager on my t-mobile BB 8320 curve running version 4.2.2.180 but an error occurs when i try to “add” the application. it says “No additional applications designed for your device were found” when i select the trekbuddy_bb_v42.alx file and click open. can u help me? thx. ps. i appreciate all the help!

James, i’ve saved the trekbuddy .alx application on my SD card and navigated to it on my BB using explorer, but when i press the blackberry button and select “open” it says “Unable to display file /Media Card/trekbuddy_bb_v42.alx” - i don’t have a data plan, but my BB does have the wi-fi feature. thx for the quick reply

sorry james i’m not sure which .jad file to download from the “http://linuxtechs.net/kruch/tb/releases/0.9.73/index.html” link. there are three choices, but none seem to say are for BB. can u tell me which one or where i may find it?

James, i have downloaded all three .jad files and saved them on my SD card, but when i go to explore on my BB and download it, it says “download failed”. ive tried setting the application permissions to allow, but still i have no luck. when i go to details it says “909 Application authentication failure” can u help? thx for all the help so far.

James, i’ve successfully installed the trekbuddy application using the jar. file which looked identical to the jad. file, but the jad file failed to install and the jar. file was successful. i installed the generic version, but when i try to run it, it says “error starting trekbuddy: Module ‘trekbuddy’ has verification error 2863 at offset 233a.” im not sure what this means, can u help? thx.

I have followed the above to use Trekbuddy and G2TB. I have a T-mobile 8800 with no data plan or a simcard. I want to be able to use the GPS and navigation software with out a data plan. I have a 2Gig SD card. I have setup the folders as shown in the article above. When I “Go to Menu->Basic->Data Dir” “Data Dir” is not there. Does anyone know why it does not show?

“file:///SDCard/blackberry/data dir/” Where does this get entered? I am unable to open a browser since i do not have a sim card. Do you enter this in The browser or somewhere else?

Click on the TrekBuddy icon to open the program, press the BlackBerry Key to bring up the menu. Select Settings, then Basic, then scroll down to Data Dir at the bottom of the screen. That is where you enter the path. If you have a newer version of TrekBuddy then it may already have created the directory for you and filled in the path.

I tried TrekBuddy Forums but no reply after a week. I am able to load a map, get a GPS signal, move around the map. However, how do I see my location on the map (Google-To-TrekBuddy created map)? Btw, I’m doing this on a BB Pearl 8100 without Internet connectivity.
Thanks much.

James,
Although my lat/lon reading in line #1 above the map seems correct, the compass rosette doesn’t budge when I hit “5″. I tried Alt-5; Alt-Shift to do Num Lock and then pressed 5; simply pressing 5 also does nothing to the compass rosette. Thanks.

Hello, this looks like an awesome software, but for some reason I keep getting an error while trying to generate my map on gm2tb. It gives me a whole page of “Warning…..” messages. Though I can generate the waypoints just fine….what’s wrong with the website?

I wouldn’t have thought that TrekBuddy would be sending/receiving data, but you could always ensure it doesn’t by going to Options->Advanced Options->Application Permissions->Edit Permissions and selecting deny for connections…this would stop TrekBuddy from accessing the internet etc.

Hi,
I have a BB 8310 and I have done everything suggested here step by step (thanks for posting this!) except when I load the Map I have downloaded, it is so far zoomed out that I can’t see detailed streets (which is what I really need to view). I tried to hit different buttons but nothing moves - I can only pan using the track ball.
Also, I am not able to get the “compass” mode by activating the GPS - is this required since I am able to load the map and view it even though without the GPS light on the top right being green?
Any help would be appreciated in regards to how I can get a zoomed in view on the map I downloaded.
Many Thanks!!!

You can’t zoom in and out using TrekBuddy. The zoom level of the map is dictated by the zoom level when you created the map. If you want higher resolution you need to select a smaller area when you use http://gm2tb.awokenmind.de/

It is possible to create maps of different resolutions and package them in an “atlas” format but this is beyond the scope of this post.

Thank you James, i didn’t know I zooming in and out is not available on Trekbuddy. Do you know where I will be able to find detailed procedure (like what you have done for Trekbuddy Map on this article) for the “Trekbuddy ATLAS” format that you have mentioned so I will be able to utilize the zoom function?

An atlas is simply a number of maps packaged in the same file. If the maps are of the same area and are simply different resolutions this should give you an effective zoom feature. I don’t know of a detailed how-to but there is a link to a forum on this page:-

@icyfire - there is not any interactive zoom (that switches from a zoomed out level to a more detailed level). To get to the more detailed zoom level, you need to press ‘7′ and select the desired scale from the list… it keeps your same location on the map, but switches to the different zoom level.

FYI: I’m using a bb pearl and created my atlases with “Trek Buddy Atlas Creator”.

I have trekbuddy and everything was fine until i tried to open map or atlas… first i didnt know what format to use but then i decidded to use .tar files so i downloaded a tar file and it was great apparently. but in the moment of loading it well it simply says loading atlas or loading map but ive been hours with that… do u know whats the problem? i used http://gm2tb.awokenmind.de/ which is googlemaps 2 terkbuddy online tool to save the tar file…. im beginning to think i need a data plan for the first load of the map.. but wouldnt make sense…. heeeelp

I am using the TrekBuddy Atlas Creator 1.5 and it does not seem to make a .set file like other maps, making it not work for me…….with a normal map it makes a set folder with the pngs, then a .map file, then a .set file…………but the atlas maker doesnt make the .set file so do I need this to work?

Hi, I was wondering if there is some way of using custom maps. I make custom hydrographic maps of lakes as jpg, bmp etc. I’ve made kml files that work in google earth as overlays but I need something that works on a blackberry storm and the GPS. Is there some way I can upload my custom jpg files as a map and get my current location on them?

If you are planning to use the internal memory of blackberry then you should point the “data dir” to file:///store/where_is_data_dir_folder_can_be_found.
like file:///store/home/user/blackberry in case of BB 9550.
File::///store is the root of the internal memory card.

Hi. what is the right map dimension I should use with my BB Curve 8900? I have installed TrukBuddy V0.9.99 and made everythin described above but when I do “load map” I always get “Invalid map dimension”. What are the “tile properties” I need to use in TB cutter? I this related to the fault I’m seeing? Thanks, Marco

i just buy an blackbarry 8520 curve, and i saw on my menu, maps icon is missing,,,,can u tell me why is happend this?
and how can i install it,,,,and also messenger blackbarry is not working at all,,,
thank you

After many hours with a Blackberry 8330/Trekbuddy/gpsmapedit, I’ve concluded:
- to save street or topographical maps in .bmp format with the smallest street names or finest contour lines creates .bmp files so large only a very small area can be converted. For instance, creating one map for an area the size of our city results in a 4Gb file. For backcountry use, this means creating a new file for every area visited. This is fairly useless compared to a real gps, or, other than the exorbitant connection fees, using Blackberry maps (which download areas as you need them).

If anyone has a solution to this, I’d be very happy to learn of it.

To activate the Blackberry’s internal gps, under /options/advanced options/gps, you have to select “Location On”. In Trekbuddy’s Location menu, select “Internal”. “assisted gps” in the same menu means using the cellular network’s towers for a very rough location, instead of the gps satellite information. So avoid using “assisted gps”.

The Blackberry won’t find a created folder while it is still connected to the computer.

To prevent the Blackberry from accessing data services, under /options/mobile network/data services, you have to select “Off”.

Under the Blackberry’s /options/advanced options/applications you have to scroll down to Trekbuddy, select it, press /Menu, Edit permissions, and set all three “Connections”, “Interactions” and “User Data” to “Allow”.

Also, you can tell if your service provider has deactivated the gps in your Blackberry by going to /options/advanced options/gps and seeing if there’s an option to activate the gps. If there isn’t, then the provider has blocked it.

For those who didn’t buy the Blackberry from the service provider, deactivating the gps subsystem is probably not legal, certainly not right.

We have recently finished version 2 of the app, which has been enhanced with many new features.

- Offline and online maps for all of planet earth
- Offline search of point of interests nearby
- Global pedestrian routing

nogago Outdoor is now one of the best maps application available for
BlackBerry®. The app also transforms your mobile into a fully-fledged
outdoor navigation device that can track and measure time, distance
and speed of your activities; view maps of the area anytime and
offline; navigate along tracks and planed routes with routing
optimized for walking and biking.

We would be very happy, if you could feature our app again in your
blog. nogago outdoor is a great companion for international travelers
and outdoor enthusiasts alike. Our users can move with greater
privacy, outside of mobile network coverage and without paying data
roaming fees. We offer offline maps at 4.98 EUR/USD for up to 18.000
square miles as download at http://www.nogago.com, where you can also plan, find and create tracks for various weekend or after work outdoor activities and

download the app.
The app is also available on BlackBerry App World at
(http://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/13904?lang=en
or http://tinyurl.com/265yoop)

hi i have a problem with my storm 2 i downloaded the program and every thing is fine but when i go to the site http://gm2tb.awokenmind.de/ and i click download map it gives me a white page with this in it (Warning: imagecopy(): supplied argument is not a valid Image resource …… ) can any body help me out here ??

The new version nogago Outdoor 2.2 provides access to four different online maps including street, topographic, skiing and public transport maps. Users can now upload their tracks directly to nogago for sharing with friends and convenient viewing. Links to the online help have been added and several bugs were fixed. Starting with this release all routing and navigation capabilities of the app are only available after purchasing a license key. Nevertheless, significant parts of the application are available for free including viewing offline and online maps and recording tracks. Therefore you can continue to use your current and existing maps with both the free and premium version. We encourage you to use your frequently updated maps by simply downloading them again.

this doesn’t work. maps cannot be created. “gif file not valid” or whatever. it was already headache enough to get trekbuddy installed. now maps cannot be downloaded. this whole crap is a waste of time. fuck blackberry, get an iphone!